Son of Mom Shielded by Officers in Dallas Tells Obama He Wants to Become Cop
— -- One of the sons of Shetamia Taylor, the mom who along with police with her protected her sons from sniper in Dallas, told President Obama today that he wanted to be a police officer.
"The reason I wanted to be a police officer is that I wanna try to make this world a better place as much as I can," Jermar Taylor said during the town hall, with the president and ABC News' David Muir. "I wanna, like, tell kids and adults that not all police officers are bad. Some police officers make mistakes."
Obama spoke as part of a Disney Media Networks town hall titled "The President and the People: A National Conversation," which aired Thursday at 8 p.m. ET and was simulcast commercial-free on ABC, ESPN, Freeform, ABCNews.com, Freeform Digital, Watch ABC, Watch ESPN, Yahoo, ABC News’ Facebook page and YouTube channel as well as ABC Radio and ESPN Radio. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
During an earlier interview with ABC News, Jermar's mother said that she'd heard two gunshots when the shooting began the night of July 7. She said she was running behind her sons and then felt a bullet hit the back of her leg.
"My son went to grab me but I was already shot so I grabbed him and lay on top of him," she said. "Police asked was anybody hit, because he didn't know I was shot. I said yes, but not loud enough because I didn't want my son to hear.
"The officer got on top of me and covered me and my son. Another cop [was] at my feet and another [stood] by us and they protected us. I saw another officer get shot in front of me."
Taylor said that the majority of the officers who shielded her were white, and said the experience made her "admiration for police greater," while acknowledging that she always admired the efforts of law enforcement.
Her sons attended the town hall today in her absence. Obama said that he'd met Shetamia Taylor and her husband, Jermar's parents, immediately after meeting with the families of the five police officers who died in Dallas.
"Well, I think you'll make an outstanding police officer. ... They were very proud of you," Obama said. "We're proud of you."
